Pear preparation machine



I nvfntor:

13 Sheets-Sheet l A. R. THOMPSON ET AL PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE OriginalFiled April 27, 1931 I Attorney*` 3 2 1. 4 ,m h 6., m fr 5 qw 0 S 2, n e`h 5m. s w. l N wl M.. Huw NMH.. onf O www Mmm CM1 HEM THM Rmm .Afm O 63 9 l 9 6 t m www Inventor.' Aiber Timm/woz;

Attorneys @at 6, w36.

A. R. THOMPSON ET AL PEAR PREPARAT ION MACHINE Original Filed April 27,1951 13 Sheets-Sheet 3 By A ' ttormey.;`

A. R. THOMPSON ET AL. 2,056,413

PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE 15 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed April 27, 1931A tlorneya" @at 69 N336., A. R. Tu=soMPs0N 15T AL 2?@5594@ PEARPREPARATION MACHINE Original Filed April 27, 1931 13 Sheets-Sheet 5n'rcntor.:

AZbez-Z Q fkompson: //EZZaam d? ack,

rabgm Atlameys Od' 6, 1936 A. R. THoMPsoN'l-:T AL 2,056,413

' f PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE Original Filed April 27? 1931 13Sheds-Sheet 6 //EZZa'Iam de 5de/E;

By c

Attorney:

Oct. 6, 1936. A, R. THOMPSON ET AL 2,056,413

` PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE l Original Filed April 27, 1931 13Sheets-Sheet 7 Inventor.;

[Alberi f/zongpson, h/Z'ZZz'am de 500k,

Attorney;

@CL 6, 1936 A. R. THOMPSON ET AL 2,056,413

PEAR PREPARAT ION MACHINE Original Filed April 27, 1931 13 Sheets-Sheet8 I r11/enters Och 6 1936- A. R. THOMPSON ET AL 2,056,413

PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE Original Filed April 27, 1931 13 Sheets-Sheet 9,La i* @la Inn-many Oct. 6, 1936.

A, R. THOMPSON ET AL PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE 13 Sheets-Sheet 10Original Filed April 27, 1931 Inventum` Aibezf Q7-Omgaan ,f1/22mm de@aC/e,

llorneygy OCL '6, 1936 A. R. THOMPSON ET A1. 2,056,413

PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE Original Filed April 27, 1931 13 Sheets-Sheet1l 109 24o 4,5 ya n 24j I nvenlors' Alberi Hom/Own, PVzZZz'an/z de 5de/;

ct. 6, 1936. A. R. THOMPSON ET m.J 29055943 PEAR PREPARATION MACHINEOriginal Filed April 27, 19E-l l5 Sheets-Sheet 12 Invenlofs ttomeyg Oct.6, 1936. A, R. vTHOMFSCN ET AL 2,056,413

PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE Original Filed April 27, 1931 13 Sheets-Sheet13 ning, and has for one of its principal objects the.

UNITED' STATESl PATENT oFFlcE PEAR PREPARATION MACHINE Albert B.Thompson and William de Back, San

Jose, Calif., assignors to Food Machinery Corporation, San Jose, Calif.,'a corporation o! Delaware .Application April 27, 1931, Serial No.533,048

Renewed July 18, 1934 61 Claims. (Cl. 14R-33) This invention relates toa Vmachine for preparing fruit particularly pears, for drying orcancomplete preparation' of fruit such as pears for canning by removingthe stem, peeling, coring and trimming, and then splitting the fruit inhalves or quarters.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a pear preparationmachine which will stem, peel, core, trim and split the fruit intohalves irrespective of shape or size of the fruit and which will rendercareful grading and selecting of the fruit unnecessary.

Itis a further object of this invention to provide a machine which willsubstantially eliminate all hand work in the preparation of pears forcanning or for drying.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a machine which willuniformly shape the pears with the minimum of waste.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a machine which willstem, peel, core, trim and split the fruit without in any mannerbruising the fruit and so that the finished product has a very smoothand attractive appearance.

It is a further object of this invention to provide peeling knives whichwill follow the contour of the pear and remove from the pear a clean cutof uniform thickness.

It is a further object of this invention to provide peeling knives somounted that a resilient castor action will be obtained to cause theknives to follow the contour ofv the pear and remove therefrom a peelingof substantially unifor thickness. f

It is a i'urther object of this invention to provide a coring clampmeans which will automatically clamp the pear to be cored and trimmedfirmly, yet without a yielding pressure such as spring clamps wouldgive.

It is a further object of this invention to provielel a slitting meansfor halving or quartering the peeled pears and also' the seed pod.

It is a further object of this invention to prol lvide a slitting meansfor slitting the peeled pears and only partially slitting the cored seedpod whereby the meat of the pear is readily separated from said coredseed pods. v

It is a further object of thisinverntion to pro- -vide a. machine whichwhen set in operation will vide control means which may be actuated toimpale 4the fruit` and operable thereafter to start the machine intooperation.

It is a further object ofthis invention to provide a locking means forthe clutch actuating mechanism which is releasable by means carried 5 bythe fruit impaling spindle when actuated to impale the fruit thereon.

It is a further object of this invention tovprovide a pear preparationmachine which may be' operated with or without or partially with and 10partially without fruit to be pared in the machine without injury tothefmachine.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means for readilyadjusting the amount of trim to be given to the bud end of the pear.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means operable toforce the blossom end of the pear a predetermined distance intothetrimming knife and trip means operated by the pear to stop furthermovement of the operable means when the pear has reached saidpredetermined position.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of the sameis more fully understood from the following description and accompanyingdrawings wherein is set forth what is now considered to be a preferredembodiment. It should be understood, however, that this particularembodiment of the invention is chosen principally for the purpose ofexempliiication, and that variations therefrom in details ofconstruction or arrangement of parts may accordingly be effected and yetremain within the spirit and scope of the invention as the same issetforth in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a cross sectional view taken substantiallyalong the longitudinal center line of the machine illustrating the partsof the machine in the position they would occupy just prior to 40 beingplaced into operation.

Figure 2 is asectional view taken substantially along the ,brokenirregular lines 2-2 of Figure l vand looking in the direction of thearrows and illustrates the forward face of one of the reciprocatingheads with the paring means mounted thereon.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3 3 ofFigure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows and illustrating therotating and locking means for the turret spindles.

Figure 4 is a front end view of the machine as illustrated in Figure l.

vFigure 5 is a iragmental view of the forward 55 line 5-5 of Figure 6. Iy

Figure 6 is a fragmental sectional view taken substantially along line6-8 of Figure 5 and illustrates the control handle and the apparatusactuatedthereby.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 1 1 ofFigure 1v and illustrates the Geneva. gear arrangement for turning theturret head one-eighth of a revolution for each operating cycle and alsoillustrates the intermittent drive and locking means for the knives forcoring and trimming the bud end of the pear.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 8-8 ofFigure 1 and illustrating the driving clutch, and the clutch disengagingmeans whereby the clutch is permitted to make only one completerevolution each time it has been actuated.l

Figure 9 is a fragmental view of the lower section of the rear face ofthe turret head and the mounting of the two cams, one for actuating thestem ejector to eject the stem from the stemming tube while the othercam actuates the ejector back to its retracted position and alsoillustrates the lug of the ejector mechanism engaging with the cams. Y

Figure 10 is a plan view of the stem` ejector cams taken substantiallyalong line II-Il of Figure 9 and illustrating the stem ejector lugs forthree different spindle positions in engagement with the cams.

Figure 11 is an enlarged partially sectional view of a portion of thespindle,.illustrating the Y mounting of the stemming tube upon thespindle and also the stem ejector mechanism and cam which has beenengaged to actuate the stem ejector into the position to eject the stemof the pear from the stemming tube and also illustrates the mounting ofthe coring and trimming knives thereon and the actuating and lockingmeans therefor.

Figure 12 is an enlarged iront view of the peel- 'ing knife assembly.

Figure 13 is an end view oflFlgure 12. Figure 14 is a cross sectionalview taken substantially along line I4-I4 of Figure 12.

Y Figure 15 is an enlarged fragmental cross sectional view takensubstantially along line IS-Ii of Figure 2, illustrating the mounting ofthev driving rollers for the reciprocating heads and illust trating therollers positioned in their respective cam grooves of the barrel cam.

Figure 16 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially alongline I8-I6 of Figure 2 and illustrates the pear splitting mechanism. i

'Figure .17 is an enlarged plan view of a pear slitting mechanismsimilar to Figure 16 but illustrating a modified set of slitting kniveswhereby the seed pod of the pear is sliced by only one ofV the' knives.

Figure 18 is a top plan view of Figures 16 and i7. s

Figure 19 is/an enlarged sectional view taken Vsubstantially along lineIB-IS of Figure 2 illus trating the mechanism for feeding the pear intothe coring and trimming knives and the release means for disengaging thefeeding means when the pear has reached a predetermined setting and alsoillustrates the pear clamping mean: for holding the pear firmlyyet'without yielding pressure.

For the sake of clearness the locking means illus- ,trated in Figure 20has not been included and not all of the cla'mp arms have been shown.

Figure20isaviewsimilartoFigux-el9partially end of the machine takensubstantially along the in section and taken substantially along line2li-2l of Figure 21 illustrating the mechanism for locking the coringclamp and for sake of clearness the disengaging mechanism for the pearfeeding means as illustrated in Figure 19 has not been shown.

Figure 21 isa view partly in section taken substantially along line2I--2I of Figures 19-20 and That form of the invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawings includes a frame I having end brackets 2 and 3and an intermediate drive shaft bearing bracket 4.

Joumaled in end brackets 2 and 3uis shaft 5 v having suitably keyedthereon adjacent the end bracket 8, a turret head 6, which is providedwith eight similar spindle assemblies 1. Each spindle assembly includesa spindle 8 journaled in bearings 8 and I8 in the turret head. Keyed orsplined upon spindle 8 to permit lateral movement of the spindle is thedriving pinion I I and to prevent lateral movement of the pinion it issuitably mounted between bearings 9 and I0.

The forward end of spindle 8 is provided with a spindle cap I2 having acam surface I3, a slot I4 into which the pawl of the .control handle isadapted to enteras will be described'later and adjacent to slot I4 is apin I5. The rear end of spindle 8 is bored as at I6 to receive astemming tube I1 and a key I8 most clearly illustrated in Figure 11causes the stemming tube to rotate with the spindle.

The extreme rear end of spindle 8 is slotted and provided with a taperedscrew thread I9, a nut 2U having a like tapered screw thread is tightlyscrew threaded upon the spindle threads I9 thus securely clamping thestemming tube I1 in place.

The end of stemming tube I1 opposite to the end clamped in spindle 8 isprovided with a stemming section 2I of slightly larger diameter thanVthe main body of the stemming tube and section 2l is bored as at 22 toreceive the stem of the pear when the fruit is impaled thereon and uponthe periphery thereof an impelling blade 28 is suitably secured, whichprevents rotating of the pear with relation to the stemming tube.Slidably mounted upo the stemming tube is a corer and trilming sl ve 24which has an external diameter substantially equal to the diameter ofthe stemming section 2|. A coring and trimming knife 28 is brazed orotherwise suitably secured to sleeve 24. To drive sleeve 24 togetherwith the coring and trimming knife a driver bracket 2S is Journaledconcentric with the spindle upon bearing sleeve 21 which is clamped tothev face of the turret head 6 by means of flange 28. A collar 2lretains the driver bracket 26 upon the sleeve 21. A slotted guard 30 isslidably mounted upon the coring sleeve 24 and the slotted portion ofguard 8l straddles the driving bracket 26 and is counterbored as at 8lto pass over the shoulder 82 of the spindle clamping nut 20. Theshoulder 82 is recessed as at 38 and a .pin 34 mounted in guard 30 actsin recess 83 to limit the movement of guard 80.

The guard 36 is provided with a face 35 which acts as a stop for thefruit during the peeling operation and against which the fruit engagesduring its movement into coring and trimming position to slide guard 30along therewith a ange 36 is formed upon guard 30 to engage means forstopping further movement of the fruit when its blossom end haspenetrated the trimming knife a predetermined amount,4

A stem ejector 31 is mounted in the stemming tube Il and spindle 6 andincludes an ejector head 38 which nicely ts within the bore of thestemming tube section 2l and is actuated by an ejector rod 39 whichslidably passes through the bore of stemming tube l1 and has an end bentat right angles to the rod as at 40 which projects through slot 4l ofspindle t3.

To give the stem ejector the necessary lateral movement to eject thestem of the fruit from the stemming section 2i an ejector sleeve 42 isslid-y ably mounted in the bearing sleeve 21 and also upon spindle 3 andis slotted as at i3 to straddle the driving bracket 26 as is mostclearly Aillustrated in Figures 9 and ll and the extreme outer end ofejector sleeve 42 is provided with a projecting lug 44. A cam 45 ispositioned whereby the tapered cam surface 46 will engage lug 44 tocause the ejector sleeve to move outward. The ejector sleeve 42 iscounter bored as at 41 to permit the outer end of the sleeve to slideover the guard 30, clamping nut 20 and the bent end 4U of the ejectorrod however the shoulder 48 at the end of the counterbore 41 engagesthat portion of the bent end` of the ejector rod which projects abovethe spindle and causes the rod to move outward forcingthe ejector head38 to the outer end oi the stemming tube to eject the stem therefrom(note Figures 10 and 11). A cam 49 is positioned as illustrated inFigure 10 and is provided with a cam surface 50 having an inclinationopposite to that of the cam surface 46 and as'lug 44 of the ejectorsleeve travels along the inclination of the cam surface 50 the ejectorsleeve is returned to its retracted position.

The cams 45 and 49 may be mounted upon the turret guard 5l by means ofsuitable brackets 42.. The turret guard 52 is stationary and is mountedupon frame l, however the ejector operating cams 45 and 49 may bemounted directly upon frame l if desired. It should be noted that cams45 and 49 are circular in form having a center of curvature coincidentwith the center of rotation of the turl ret. v,

' 54, (note Figures 1, 3,4).

As has been previously stated, each of the spindle assemblies isidentical and are equally spaced around the turret head equidistant fromits center of rotation so that a mutilated gear means 53 may be utilizedto give the spindles the desired amount of rotation between eachoperating position.

The mutilated gearV 53 remains stationary and is secured to the endbracket 3 by means of bolts By referring especially to Figure 3, it willbe observed that the mutilated gear is providedupon its periphery withgroups of gear teeth 55 positioned to engage the the spindles 8 againstrotation while the groups of teeth 55 of the mutilated gear are out ofengagement with the spindle driving gear il and for this purpose each ofthe spindle driving gears Il is provided with an octagonal locking disc56 which may be suitably secured thereto, while the mutilated gear 53 isprovided with a cooperating 4locking ring 51 which is relieved as at 56to permit lution. The turret head is rotated l/g of a revo-` lution atthe very start of the operating cycle, then remains stationary duringthe peeling, coring, trimming and slicing operations. To rotate theturret head 1/8 of a revolution each time the machine is operated theWell known forni of Geneva gear as illustrated in Figures l, 7, 8, 22and 23 is employed and' includes the usual form shaft, which engages androtates the Geneva of Geneva driver 59 mounted on the main drive drivenmember 60, which is operatively mounted upon the shaft 5 and when out ofdriving engagement, the Geneva driver locks the Geneva driven memberfrom further rotation. For conveniences of illustration, the Geneva gearhas been illustrated in Figures 2, 7, 8 and 22 in the position it wouldoccupy after having rotated substantially one half of its `rotationduring the iirst portion of the operating cycle of the machine. l

The Geneva driver 59 is keyed upon the main drive shaft 6I which isjournaled in end bracket 2 in bearing 62 and in the intermediate bracket4 in bearing 63.

The main drive shaft 6| is provided with a one revolution clutch 64,that is, a clutch which when actuated will make a complete revolutionand then automatically release, whereby the rnachine is driven through acomplete operating cycle and then is automatically stopped until theclutch is again actuated to operate the machine throughout the nextoperating cycle.

The clutch 64 is illustrated'in detail in Figures 1 and 8 and includes asprocket 65 or other suitable driving' means journaled upon the maindriving shaft 6I and is provided with a clutch ring 66 journaled uponthe hub of the sprocket and keyed thereto by means of a shear pin 61which passes through a hardened bushing 68 in the sprocket and through ahardened bushing 69 L in the clutch ring so that in case the machine`should become clogged the shear pin 61 would be sheared thus freeingthc sprocket and preventing damage to the machine. Securedto the clutchring 66 is an annular clutch plate 10 which is provided upon its innersurface with a series of ratchet teeth 1I. The portion of the clutchjust described constitutes the driving elements of the clutch while thedriven elements of the 'clutch include a hub-12 suitably keyed to haftBl and extending into 'the bore of the clutch gear teeth of the spindledrive gearv Il, and may; ypla'te1IL' A clutch dog 13 is operativelymounted be arranged to rotate the spindle whil'traveling from position 1to position 2, of a revolutionl and while traveling from position 2 toposition 3, no rotation, and While traveling from position 3 toposition`4, 1A cf a revolution, and from position 5 to position 6, 1Acfa revolution, and while. traveling from position 6 through position 7to position 8, no rotation. It is desirableto lock' in the hub 12 and aspring 14 continuously urges the outer end of the clutch dog toward theclutchy ring 10. In order to retain the clutch dog in a retractedposition as illustrated in Figure 7, a clutch yoke 15 straddles the hub12 and holds the clutch dog out of engagement with the clutch plate 10.The clutch yoke 15 is suitably secured upon rocker shaft 16 which isJournaled upon end the rocker shaft by means of the lever arm 19a theclutch yoke 15 is moved out of engagement with the clutch dog 13 and thespring 14 forces the clutch dog into contact with one of the ratchetteeth 1| of the clutch plate thus causing the hub 12 to rotate and asthe hub is keyed to the main driving shaft 9| the machine is operated.To disengage the clutch after shaft 9| has made a complete revolutionthe clutch yoke 15 is to return by means of the lug 12a secured to orformed integral with the hub 12 which during the rotation of the hubengages with the tapered cam surface: 15a of the clutch yoke 15 topositively shift the clutch yoke to its initial position so that uponcompletion of a single revolution of the shaft the' clutch dog 13 isengaged by the clutch yoke 15 and is thereby forced out of engagementwith the clutch plate 19 and is held retracted until the clutch yoke 15is again removed. As previously pointed out, the Geneva gear driver 59is keyed upon the main driving shaft 9| so that each time shaft 9| makesa complete revolution the Geneva driver engages one of the driving slotsin the Geneva driven member and as there are eight driving slots theGenevadriven member is rotated 1/8 of a revolution per revolution ofshaft 9|.

A mutilated gear 19 for driving the coring and trimming knives issuitably mounted upon the main driving shaft 6| or as. illustrated inFigure 1 the mutilated gear 19 fits tightly upon the extended hub of theGeneva driver 59 and is secured thereto by means of a set screw 99. Alongitudinal shaft 9| is journaled upon the underside of frame inbearings 92v and 93 and keyed to the rear end thereof is a pinion 94positioned to be engaged by the teeth 95 of the mutilated gear 19. Asillustrated most clearly in Figure '7, the mutilated gear 1-9 isprovided with gear teeth 95 which are just sumcient in number to rotatepin 94 one complete revolution for each revolution of-the mutilatedgear. The longitudinal shaft 9| is locked against rotation during thetime teeth 95 of lthe mutilated gear 19 are out of mesh with the teethof pinion 94 by means of the locking ring 99 secured to or formedintegral with the mutilated gear 19 while suitably mounted upon the hubof pinion 94 is a cooperating locking disc 91 provided with a cutawayportion 99 which is shaped to nicely fit the periphery of the lockingring 99. (Note Figure 7.) The locking ring 99 has a cutaway or relievedsection 99 adjacent teeth 95 of the mutilated gear 19 to permit therotation of the locking disc 91 when teeth 95 engage and rotate pinion94.

suitably keyed upon the forward end of the longitudinal shaft 9| is themutilated intermediate corer gear 99 (Figures 1, 3, and 4), and ispositioned to operatively engage .the corer pinion 99 which is keyedupon the driver bracket 25. The mutilatedintermediate corer gear 99 isproriphery ofthe gear anclthis blank portion permits ther corer pinionto be carried mby the turret head 9 into position to be engaged by theteeth 9| and also permits suilicient rotation ot .gear I9 bracket 2 inbearings 11 and 19 and by rotating to enable the cylindrical cam 99which may be secured to. or formed integral with gear 99 to Y engage andunlock the corer pinion locking means before teeth 9| operatively engagethe teeth of the corer pinion. 'I'he locking means 94 for each corerpinion includes (Figures 1 and 11) .a latch 95 slidably mounted in theange 29 and turret head 9 and is provided with a projection l99 which isadapted to engagey the slot 91 of the c orer pinion 99 to lock thepinion `against rotation. The latch 95 is provided with a depending lug99 which extends beyond the teeth of the corer pinion and is inalignment with the cylindrical cam 99 which is provided with an inclinedcam surface 99 positioned with relation to teeth 9| of the mutilatedintermediate corer gear 99 to move the projection 99 of the latch out ofengagement with the slot 91 of the corer'pinion 99 just at the pointteeth 9| engage the teeth'of the corer pinion and after the corer pinionhas been rotated one complete revolution and just as teeth 9| of themutilated intermediate corer gear 99 moves out of engagement with theteeth of the corer pinion 99 the lug 99 of latch 95 @rides down theinclined cam surface |99 permitting the latch to carry the projection 99into engagement with the slot 91 of the corer gear to again lock thegear against furtherfrotation.

A latch spring |9| constantly urges the latch 95 into engagement withthe corer pinion 99 and thus the pinion is locked against rotation untilthe latch is again withdrawn. t 'There is also suitably mounted upon themain driving shaft 9| a cam driving gear |92 which meshes with anddrives a cam gear |93 of equal diameter, which is mounted upon and keyedto one of the hubs of4 a barrel caml |94 which is journaled upon theturret rotating shaft 5 in bearings |95 and |99 and is retained `againstlateral movement thereon by thrust bearings |91 and |99 and as the camdriving gear |92 is rotated one complete revolution each time the clutch94 is actuated andas the cam gear |93 is of equal diameter, the barrelcam |94 is likewise rotated one revolution each time clutch 94 isactuated. g

slidably mounted upon the barrel cam |94 is the reciprocating head |99(Figures 1, 2, and 15) and slidably mounted upon the cylindrical portion|9 of the reciprocating head is a somewhat similar auxiliary head It isnecessary to provide means for supporting the reciprocating Vhead |99and auxiliary head against rota.-

tion, and for this purpose oneor more guide rods may be provided,iasillustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 22 which may include a guide rod l2supported above and at one side of frame in brackets ||9 and ||4 whileat the opposite side of frame l the guide rod ||5 is likewise supportedby brackets H9 and ||1. The reciprocating head 99 is proyided at each'side with depending feet ||9 each of which is provided with acylindrical bearingl ||9 which are slidably mounted upon respectiveguide rods ||2 and, I5 (Figures 2 and 22).

And likewise the auxiliary head is provided at each side .with dependingfeet |29 provided with cylindrical bearings |2| slidably mounted uponthe guide rods ||2 and |I5. It should be remembered that each head isfree to reciprocate independently of the other and in order toindependently reciprocate the heads the barrel cam |9418 provided with acontinuous cam groove |22 (Figures l, 15, and 23) which is spiral withinterposed radial sections. A roller 923 rotatlvely mounted upon flangei226 which is bolted to the reciprocating head l0@ (Figures 2 and 15)travels in the cam groove S22. A simi.

is rotatively mounted upon the flange l2l whichy ange is bolted to theauxiliary head lli (Figure l5), and is positioned to travel in the camgroove |25. Due to the diierence in length of the spiral sections of thecam grooves E22 and |25 the auxiliary head will start to travel shortlybefore the reciprocating head lllii will start to move and will travel alittle further and the auxiliary head Iii will start upon its returnmovement shortly before the reciprocating head Mit will start upon itsreturn movement and the auxiliary head will necessarily travel furtherto `reach the' initial starting point. The'purpose for the relativemovement between the reciprocated head lili? and the auxiliary head illwill be dey scribed later.

The description of the remaining portion of vthe machine will bemoreeasily understood when described along with the operation of the machineand therefore the operation of the ma-v chine will now be described.

As previously stated, the machine completely' prepares the fruit byiirst removing the stern then by removing the skin of the fruit bypassing the fruit through four dierent peeling operations, then curingand trimming the blossom end and finally slicing the fruit.

Each piece of fruit passes successively through eight positions orstations in the machine atI which stations different portions of theparing operation is performed. For example, at therst station, theincoming piece of fruit is impaled upon the stemming tube ll and as thefruit travels between the first and second stations, the stem of thefruit is removed, while at the third, fourth, fifth and sixth stationsthe peeling operations are performed, at the seventh station the core orseed pod is cut from the pear and also the blossom end is trimmed andpeeled and finally at the eighth station the fruit is sliced and leavesthe machine. f

The operation of the machine will now be ldescribed irom the placing ofthe fruit into the machine until the fruit leaves the machine completelyprepared. y

The first operation is to place the pear into the machine at the firststation of the turret head t (Figures 2, 3, and 22) this first operationis accomplished by placing the stem of the pear into the V shaped notch|28 formed in the disc 629 which is mounted upc-nthe forward end oi stemholder rod i3d which is slidably mounted in the end bracket 2 and thereciprocating head W9. Next the stemming tube is carried toward theblossom end of the pear by spindle 8 which at this station is connectedto the control handle i311 by the pawl 32 engaging the slot |63 of thespindie cap i2 LFigures 5 and 6).

l it will he noted that as the 'control handle |38 is moved toward theleft that the stem holder r'cd |35 and disc 29 are simultaneously movedto the right. And as illustrated in Figure 22, the

stemming tube and stem holder rod are shown in full lines in theretracted position and in broken lines in the position when the pear isfully iinpaled.

To actuate the stem holder iod simultaneously with the control handle|3| the lever i4| is pivoted at N2 to the'end bracket :i and at itsupper end is provided with a slot. |43 through which the projection IMof the pawl |32 of the control handle extends while to the lower end oflever lill one end of the rod |45 is pivotally secured. The stem holderrod is provided with a depending arm |46 to which the other end of roditli is pivotally secured.

is the stemming tube and the blossom end of the pear approach each otherthe blossom end of the pear is held so that it will be centrally engagedby the stemming tube to insure a clean removal of the stem or core.

The operation of the control handle itil is continued until the pear hasbeen impaled as indicated in broken lines in Figure 22 at which pointthe pin i5 ci the spindle cap i2 engages the upstanding portion Ml ofthe pawl M3 which is pivoted to a bracket M9 secured to the end bracket3, to swing the pawl it out of the notch l5@ cut into the clutchactuating rod ll to unlock the clutch actuating rod 'll so that thecontrol handle lili which now has reached the end of its lateralmovement may be actuated downward and to permit the downward movement ofthe control handle the slideway itl through which the control handleextends is provided with a notch i3d and also as illustrated in Figure 4the control handle lSl is provided with a double pivotal mounting l33.As the clutch actuating rod itil has now been unlocked the controlhandle |3i as it is actuated downward engages and moves downward theclutch actuating rod. The motion l of engagement with the clutch cloglieto thus place the one revolution clutch into operation 'and as theturret head t is rotated during the initial operating period ci themachine the spindie which was in engagement with the control handle andthe pin l5 which acted to unlock the clutch actuating rod are moved awayfrom station i and the locking pawl it@ is'returned bythe action of the4'spring it@ to engage the notch itil to lock the clutch actuating roditi to prevent the clutch trom being actuated a second time during anoperating cycle.

It will be noted that the pawl idii is moved to unlock the clutchactuating rod 50 by the spindie cap pin l5 and therefore the rod 85Hremains locked until the next spindle is engaged by the pawl 632 andmoved until the pin l5 again engages and releases the locking pawl ltd.

The pawl 32 is pivotally mounted in the control handle so that when theturret head is rotated and when the next spindle moves into sta- -tion lthe cylindrical surface of the spindle cap i2 will engage andcarry'upward the projecting end oi pawl |32 as illustrated in brokenlines in Figure 6, and upon movement of the control handie to the rightthe pawl Will slide along the cylindrical surface of the spindle capuntil the pawl drops into the spindle cap slot ld whereby the spindlewill be locked to the control handle itl and will move with the controlhandle either to the right or left until the clutch is again actuatedand consequently the spindle moved away from the kiin-paling station.

After the pear has been impaled and the clutch 64 thrown into action bythe control handle |31 the main driving shaft 6| wi be driven by clutch64 through one complete re olution and upon the completion of the singlerevolution of shaft 6| the clutch is automatically released to stopfurther rotation of the shaft.

l During the first part of the revolution of the main driving shaft l6|the Geneva. driver 59 engages and rotates the Geneva driven member 60just one-eighth of a revolution and as the Geneva driven member 60 isfixed upon shaft 5 the turret head 8 which is likewise fixed upon shaft5 is also rotated one-eighth of a revolution to carry the spindle 8 uponwhich the pear has been impaled from the first station to the secondstation and by referring to Figure 3 it will be observed that spindle 8and thereby the stemming tube I1 will'be rotated as it travels from thefirst to the second station by the series of gear teeth 55 positionedupon the periphery of the mutilated gear 53 which will engage the teethof spindle driving pinion and that the octagonal locking disc 56 will befree to rotate in the relieved portion 58 of the locking ring 51. Theamount of rotation of the spindle of course is governed by the number ofteeth placed upon the mutilated gear 53 however in the present instancesuiiicient teeth have been provided to rotate the spindle exactly of arevolution and as the spindle driving pinion leaves the'teeth 55 thelocking disc 56 again engages the locking ring 51 to lock the spindleagainst further rotation.

As the pear travels from the first to the second station the stem and apredetermined portion of the stem end of the pear are removed by a stemcutting knife |60 (Figures 2 and 22) which may be mounted upon a bracket6| which'in turn is flxedly mounted upon the tie rod |62 which issecured to and also acts' as a brace for the end brackets 2 and 3. Itwill be noted that the rotation of the spindle 8 upon which the fruithas been impaled occurs at the time the stem end of the pear ispresented to the cutting edge of the stem cutting knife |60 whichinsures a clean cut without injury to the fruit.

The impelling blade 23 formed upon the stemming section 2| of thestemming tube |1 insures the rotation of the pear with the spindle 8.

After the stem cutting knife |60 Vhas removed the stem and a portion ofthe stem enda of the pear the pear is carried to the second stationwhere the pear remains without further paring action and the machineautomatically stops upon completion of its operating cycle. l

The next step in the preparation of the pear may now be started byactuating the control handle |3| to impale a fresh pear in' the machineand to actuate the clutch 84 to start the machine upon another operatingcycle. 'I'he Geneva gear will be again actuated to rotate the turrethead 6 through one-eighth ofva revolution which will carry the pear tothe third station where the nrst peeling operation takes place. Beforedescribing the peeling knives, and the mechanism for actuating thepeeling, knives, attention is directed to Figure 3 wherein it will beobserved that the mutilated gear 53 is not provided-with teeth betweenthe second and third stations and that the octagonal locking ,disc 58remains in locking engagement with'the locking ring 51 for the entiredistance between these two stations, thus locking the Aspindle assembly1 against rotation with respect to the mutilated gear 83. From thefollowing Figures 1, 2, 12, 13, 14, 22, and 23,- it will be observedthat each peeling station is provided with a pair of peeling knifeassemblies |84 and that each of the peeling knife assemblies ispivotally mounted upon the end of a yoke` |65 Awhich is fulcrumed uponbracket |88 as at |81. Each bracket |66 is bolted upon the forward facelimits the closing movement of the yokes |65 to-V While the adjustingnuts- |15 regulate the distance the peeling knife assemblies |64 moveapart.

Each peeling knife assembly |64 (Figures 12, 13, and 14) include two endframes |80 with rods |8| and |82, tying the frames together, the rod |82acting as a shaft for the eccentric bushing |83 upon which the guardroller |84 rotates, a disc |85 with equally spaced notches |88 in itsperiphery is fixed to the eccentric bushing |83 and a spring pawl |81suitably fastened to one of the end frames engages a selected notch soas to lock the eccentric bushing |83at a predetermined or selectedadjustment to regulate the distance between the guard roller |84 and thepeeling knife |88. The peeling knife |88 is a flat strip of suit-'- ablemetal sharpened on one edge and concaved intermediate the ends which arebent at right angles and slotted as at |88 to provide` an adjustmentbetween the 'knife |88 .and the end frames |80 to which it is clamped byscrews |90.

It is an important feature of this invention to mount each peeling knifeassembly |84 so as to obtain what may readily be termed a castor actionwhereby the peeling knife |88 upon en- .gaging the fruit will beretarded causing the peeling knife assembly |84 to swing until the guardroller |84 will engage and follow the contour of the fruit and as theroller follows thev contour of the fruit the peeling' knife assembly islikewise caused to follow the contour of the fruit thus enabling thepeeling knife |88 to make an even clean cut thereacross. To obtain thiscastor action, that is, the co-joint action of the knife and roller,each peeling knife assembly is pivotally mounted upon one of the yokesso that the pivot pins |8| mounted upon the outer end of the yokeopel'tively engage the peeling knife assembly at a point |92 located ineach frame |38 above the center line of the guard roller |34 and abovethe cutting edge of the peeling knife |88 and nearer to the guard rollerassembly than to the knife edge. And to cause the proper amountofpressure to be applied by the knife edge and the guard roller againstthe object to be peeled two springs are provided, the first spring |83acts to urge the peeling. knife against the fruit and therefore one endof. spring |93 is fixed in the spring groove 84 of rod |3| of thepeeling knife assembly while the opposite end is anchored to the yoke.

To prevent the peeling knife assembly from being rotated beyond apredetermined point by the action of spring |93 each frame |30 isprovided with a stop pin' |35 positioned to engage j 2,056,4id the yoke65 when the predeterminedposition the amount of pressure to be exertedby the spring v liti.

it is necessary to, as we may term, close the peeling means to engagethe fruit to be peeled and then to cause the peeling means to move ortravel forward until the peeling knives IBB come into contact with thecut end of the pear and cause the pear to slide on the stemming tubeuntil thev blossom end comes against the face 35 of the guard 3@(Figures l and 23) and then to cause the knives to continue to advanceacross the fruit so as to taire a out or peel the portion of the fruitengaged by the peeling knives and then at the end of the peelingoperation to open the peeling means, and then to return the peelingmeans to their initial starting positions, note `Figure i in which thepeeling means are illustrated in an open position while in Figurer23 thepeeling means in a closed position'at the completion of the peelingoperation.

The actuation of the peeling means. is controlled by the reciprocatinghead Iii@ and the auxiliary head iii as follows: When clutch iid hasbeen actuated the barrel cam i018 is rotated through a completerevolution as has been previously described, and as the rst portion ofthe cam grooves i122 and E25 are annular the heads iii@ and iii remainstationary, it is during this period that the turret head i3 is rotatedone-eighth of a revolution, the spiral portion of the cam groove 25starts shortly before `the spiral portion oi the cam groove E22 andthere-,1l

fore the auxiliary head iii moves rst and this initial relative movementbetween the heads ill@ and iii, closes the peeling means by forwardlymoving the actuating rods il@ by compressing spring il@ between theauxiliary' head ill and the adjusting nuts ili (note Figure 23) and whenthe peeling means have been closed, the spiral portion of the cam grooveitil moves the head in@ along'the barrel cam illi and as the slope ofthe spiral portion of each cam groove is of' the same pitch the twoheads id@ and ill move in unison along the barrel cam untilY the peelingmeans have been moved across the Vfruit to be peeled, as illustrated inFigure 23. At this point" the spiral portions of the two cam groovesdevelop into a second annular section of the cam grooves i722 and 25 tostop further movement of the heads and after a short pause, the secondspiral section of the cam groove E25 causes the auxiliary head iii tomove backward to engage the adjusting nuts i715 of the actuating rodsIl@ to move the actuating rods to open the peeling means and when thepeeling means have opened the second spiral section of cam groove 122causes the reciprocating head to'rnove backward with the head iii untilthe position of the heads, as illustrated in Figure 1, is reached whichis the end of the operating cycle and the machine automatically stops.

The peeling operation just described is repeated at the ith, 5th, and6th stations.` The object to be peeled is rotated a quarter of arevolution between the 3rd and 4th stations and of a revolution betweenthe 4th and 5th stations, and finally 1/4 of a revolution between the5th 'and the guard 30 are caused to move endwise toward the turretsufficiently to have the guard lill uncover the coring knife 25. Thismovement is accomplished by the cam all@ which is suitably mounted uponthe end bracket t by the spacing tube Edi and bolts 202 and ispositioned in the path of 'travel of the spindles t whereby the point ofthe cam 2.6i] is engaged by the enlarged head of the spindle cap i2 andas the spindle travels the cam 2i!!! causes the spindle t and the guardEitto move endwise to uncover the coring knife 25. The turret head cam233 against which thecarn surface lil of the r,spindle cap i2 slides(Figure l) is displaced laterally between station 6 and l to permit thewithdrawal of the spindle as above described.

Between stations 6 and 7, the stem ejector 3l is actuated to eject thestem of the pear which has been impaled in the stemming section 2i ofthe stemming tube il, by the engagement of the projecting lug dd of .theejector sleeve it with the ejector camita (Figures l, 9, 10 and il) tocause the bentv end liti of the ejector rod and the ejector tion whilethe ejector head @t and rod 39 are rreturned to their initial positionwhen the next pear .is impaied upon the stemming tube, the coro actingto push the ejector head back to its initial position.

#it the Pitl-i. station, the pear is first pushed along the stemmingtube section 2i onto the sleeve 2li to which the coring and trimmingknives are mounted and when the blossom end of the pear 'reaches theguard 35i, it also is moved along with the pear and when the trimmingblade has penetrated a predetermined distance into the blossom end ofthe pear, the flange dii of the guard engages a plunger release trip tostop further movement of the pear and shortly thereafter the coring andtrimming knife 25 is rotated a complete revolution by the meanspreviously described to cut the core or seed pod from the meat of theVpear, and also to trim the blossom end of the pear.

The means :for pushing the pear along the stemming tube il and sleeve2li, until the trimming knife 25 has penetrated a predetermined depthinto the blossom end of the pear, includes as illustrated in Figures l,19, 20, 2l, and 23, a push-up plunger 20d slidably mounted in the boreof the central tube 293i, and is provided with a bore ad@ adapted toslide over the stemming section 2i of the stemming tube and in orderthat the push-up plunger will not damage the impelling blade ZS, it isslotted as at 209 (Figure 1).

Adjacent the rear end the push-up plunger 206 is provided with a keyslot di@ to receive the key 2li which allows a reciprocating butprevents a rotary movement thereof. The push-up plunger 206 is retainedin the bore 'by the washer 2 i2 and

